414 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXII. 



and slightly convex above. Antennae fairly long and setose. Colour of 

 head and thorax olive-green. Abdomen greenish ; wing-rudiments dark ; 

 the region corresponding to the wing pads on the ventral side of the body 

 is also dark. The spines on the lateral edges of the abdomen are borne in 

 groups on light-green patches (plates). The ventral side of the abdomen is 

 greyish-fuscous. The two black spots on the middorsum of the abdomen 

 appear clear. The proboscis extends a little beyond the second pair of 

 legs. In ten days more the insect sheds its skin for the last time and 

 assumes the adult stage. [See Plate B.) 



Nymphal habits. -In the first two stages in the nymphal period, being 

 minute in size the creatures crawl about gregariously on the leaves and 

 tender stems and easily escape detection. The later stages, especially the 

 fourth and fifth instars, display their hiding habits remarkably. During 

 these periods they are almost always found hiding under cover of the small 

 stipules or leaflets found at the junction of one stem with another or at the 

 nodes. Their colour is also so similar to that of these structures, that 

 the nymphs appear very well-hidden in such situations. The younger 

 nymphs often collect in a group on the undersurface of the short thick 

 stalks of the tender leaves. Of all the stages the last instar is the most 

 active and displays the habits of the adult to a great extent. It crawls 

 along the tender vines and leaves and when touched or detected either 

 drops down or crawls along the lower surface of the stem or leaf. The 

 nymph in the different instars differs from the adult so much in external 

 features that the immature bug is liable to be mistaken for an entirely 

 different insect. The body of the nymph is more or less flat and clearly 

 covered with hairs and setee, while the adult has a smooth convex body 

 and a pale ochraceous green colour. So far as observations in nature and 

 in captivity were made, the nymphs have been found to remain on the 

 plant only and not in soil. (Compare p. 672, Lefroy, Ind. Ins. Life.) 



The whole life period of the insect from egg to imago occupies roughly a 

 month and a half, the periods passed in the various stages being approxi- 

 mately as under : — 



Egg . . . . 6 days. 



lat Instar . , , . ^ „ 



2nd „ . . . . 6 „ 



3rd „ . . . . 9 „ 



4th „ .. .. 9 „ 



5th „ . . . . 10 „ 



The adult was found to live in captivity for a week. Thus the life cycle 

 of one generation extends roughly over a period of two months. 



T. V. RAMAKRISHNA AIYAR, 



Asst. in Entomology, Madras. 



[Coptosonia cribraria is a common small g-reen bug, about one-fifth of an inch in 

 length and of a stout squat build, which is very liable to be mistaken for a beetle 

 by a non-entomological eye. The species is described and iigured in Vol. I, 

 pages 22-2.3, of Mr. Distant's " Rhynchota " in the Fauna of India Series. — T-B.F.] 

 {See Plate C.) 



No. XXXII.— LARGE SWARMS OF BEES. 



I send herewith a photograph (Plate A) of a peepul at Jullundur which 

 has 21 swarms of wild bees on it, the largest being six feet long and thirty' 

 inches in depth. There were 19 swarms on the same tree last j'ear, 

 probably on account of its being near several large gardens. The photo was 



